Fantasy sports in attorney general’s court

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (center) has been asked by a state lawmaker for his opinion on whether fantasy sports leagues such as DraftKings and FanDuel are permissible under state law. Gov. Greg Abbott (left) last month gave a cold shoulder to the idea of state regulations targeting fantasy sports.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (center) has been asked by a...

AUSTIN — In the wake of action by other states to rein in daily fantasy sports, a Texas lawmaker is asking Attorney General Ken Paxton whether the leagues are permissible under state law.

“Recent events in New York and Nevada concerning the status of websites like FanDuel.com and DraftKings.com have brought up questions,” wrote Rep. Myra Crownover, R-Lake Dallas, in asking for a formal opinion on the propriety of the multibillion-dollar national enterprise’s reach into Texas.

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She pointed out that the Texas Legislature has generally criminalized gambling.

Unlike traditional fantasy sports in which people pick their dream teams for a season, daily fantasy sports players can assemble a new team every day or week using sports sites, which are advertised with promises of big payoffs.

Nevada has said fantasy sports sites must get gambling licenses if they operate there.

The New York attorney general has declared the games to be against that state’s law, triggering lawsuits from DraftKings and FanDuel seeking a ruling that their games don’t amount to illegal gambling.

Gov. Greg Abbott last month gave a cold shoulder to the idea of state regulations targeting fantasy sports. He said fraud should be prosecuted but laws already exist to deal with wrongdoing.

“I don’t know the details of what happened other than the headlines. But I also would be apprehensive about a state coming out and imposing regulations,” Abbott said when asked about the topic in October.

“If there was fraud in the way the practice was conducted, I think the fraud should be prosecuted. But I think there are laws in place that already exist that would allow either a state or a government or individuals to wage prosecution if that were a valid pathway,” Abbott said then.

Crownover, who heads the House Public Health Committee, isn’t running for re-election.